Pariah /pəˈraɪə; ˈpærɪə/ (noun) - An Outcast

There are so many things I could be doing in an effort to utilize my time productively. Picking my teeth, willing impossible patterns to come into existence on the paintwork of my room, analyzing the dust motes floating around me, scratching carefully around the latest of my proud collection of battle scars with the Pint-sized Evil Genius I call my brother…really, the possibilities are seemingly endless. So I decided to blog. Because that’s what people seem to do these days, when they are drowning in an ocean of boredom.

Why is there a Pariah in the title, you ask? Well, the simple truth is that I’m not exactly your typical social butterfly. Far from it, I am socially awkward, painfully shy and speech impaired around strangers. Oh, and I’d run a mile in the opposite direction rather than face an unruly crowd of merry peers. So it’s only logical that I do feel like an outcast from time to time, and prefer to be complacent around a select group of close friends and favorite books rather than running all over the place trying to talk up every bird and bush.

College life is no party. Not when you are a girl studying in Kerala, home to the most parochial sub species of Homo sapiens. It doesn't help that your parents are utterly confused by the undulating waves of advice from the (ahem) ‘’well-meaning’’ crowd of overzealous relatives who are simply falling over themselves to run your life for you.

No thanks, I’d say, but then again, who listens to anything I have to say? Which is a bit inconvenient if you think about it, but not much of a dampener!